Bennett "Benny" Ramirez-18 (District 7 Male)
"Hey, Asuka, are we avoiding Oz and the rest of them?" I ask, my eyes glued to his face as he stares down at his still full bowl of soup with wide, unblinking eyes.
"Of course not," he lies. His eyes flashing with uncertainty and fear as he looks up from his food and across the small table at me. "Why would you think that?"
"Because you've gone out of your way to avoid them so far," I say, leaning back in my chair, tearing a small chunk out of my roll, and popping it in my mouth with a shrug.
"I have not."
"Asuka, we spent the entire morning at the edible bugs station. Not because we needed to. But because it's tucked away in the far corner of the room. And no one could see that we were in there from the training room floor."
"And?"
"And that's not something you do if you're not trying to hide from someone. Neither is eating lunch as far away from everyone else as humanly possible with your back to the wall so that no one can sneak up on you. Just so you know."
"Am I really that obvious?" he groans, his shoulders slumping in defeat as he looks back down at his lunch with fear burning in his beautiful dark-brown eyes.
"Unfortunately," I admit, a sick, gnawing feeling bubbling up in the pit of my stomach as I stare into his soft, sad eyes. Ugh, why did I have to open my big stupid mouth? "Sorry."
"It's not your fault," he says, clearly upset about something but not wanting to share it with me.
"Is everything ok, Asuka?" I finally ask, my voice soft and on the verge of tears as I stare down at my soup in shame. "Was it something I said?"
"Of course not, Benny," he says, forcing himself to smile as he reaches across the table and places his hand on top of mine. Giving it a soft, reassuring squeeze before continuing. "I'm just kicking myself for being this way."
"Being what way?"
"Like me," he says, a small stream of tears trickling down his cheeks as he chokes back the urge to break down completely before continuing. "I'm too cautious. I've never been good at just doing things.
"I have to have a plan, no matter how simple and easy what I'm trying to do might be. And it can't just be a simple plan. It has to be a massive, complicated, detailed monster. I have to have a plan for every possibility and have at least two backups for each possibility on the off chance the first plan doesn't work out."
"So, that's what this is about?" I ask, my confusion plastered on my face for the whole world to see. "You can't commit to the alliance with Oz and the others because you can't plan for every possibility? And you can't turn him down for the same reason?"
"That's part of it," he admits, a sad, defeated look like the one my little brother Kevin has whenever my dad would ask him if he'd finished his homework etched on his face. "But that's not all of it."
"Then what is it?" I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me even though I can clearly see that he would rather we drop this and talk about something else.
"To be honest, I'm not sure I want to share what little time I have left with you with Oz and the others," he whispers, his face turning a painfully bright shade of red as the words tumble out of his mouth before he can stop them.
"I shouldn't have said that out loud," he mumbles, the fear and uncertainty from a few seconds ago quickly giving way to a state of shocked panic. "I'm sorry, Benny. I shouldn't have said that."
"No, you should have," I say, my face burning with embarrassment as it quickly turns an even darker shade of red than his.
"To be honest, I feel the same way."
"Why didn't you say something earlier?"
"Because I wasn't sure how," I admit, my face somehow getting even hotter and redder with the effort. "And, to be honest, I thought it would be selfish of me to hurt your chances of winning by telling you not to join the alliance."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm going to die in the arena, Asuka. I was dead the moment Raphael called my name. I've accepted that. But you don't have to die with me. And to be honest, I don't think I could live with myself if you did.
"So, I was willing to put aside what I wanted and go along with the alliance if you thought it would give you a better chance to win. And for the record, I still am. The choice is yours."
"I'm not sure I can make that choice."
"You're going to have to. We can't hide from Oz forever."
"We can't hide from him, period," he says, nodding in the direction of a small knot of tributes slowly making their way towards us as the bell that signals the end of lunch begins to ring out from the four corners of the room.
Sedge Hamilton-18 (District 9 Male)
Part of me still can't believe that Asuka and Benny turned us down. I mean, I knew it was a possibility. Especially when Asuka asked for some time to think about the offer. But I still sort of assumed that they would end up joining when everything was said and done.
It just made sense that they would. Based on my early calculations, joining our alliance would have given both of them a much better chance of winning.
It would have boosted Asuka's odds up to nearly nine percent, and it would have raised Benny's odds up to an even thirteen. And that's before you factor in things like sponsor gifts.
In short, they had everything to gain and nothing to lose by joining the alliance. And they still turned us down. And I can't figure out why.
And then there's Dana and Leandra. They joined the alliance. Despite all of the available data saying it was a terrible idea. Heck, they actually dinged their odds of winning when they did.
Though, to be fair, their odds were already bad. Like, less than one percent bad. So it's not like the half-of-a-half-of-a-percent hit they took by joining up is all that important. But it still doesn't make sense to me.
"Is everything ok, Sedge?" asks Leandra. Her eyes fixed on Dana — who is trying, and in the case of Cypher, failing spectacularly, to teach the rest of our allies how to make a proper shiv — as she pulls her long, curly brown hair back into a messy ponytail.
"Yeah," I mutter, my voice cracking ever so slightly as I force myself to look away from the others and over at her. "I was just thinking."
"What about?" she asks, clearly not the least bit interested in my answer but forcing herself to do the polite thing and ask anyway.
"Nothing important," I admit, my eyes drifting off of her and back over to Dana, who looks like she's about five seconds away from kicking the ever-loving crap out of Cypher. "I was just running some numbers in my head."
"Why?" she asks, her voice flat and even with just the slightest hint of boredom hiding underneath it all.
"Because I'm a bit of a nerd, and numbers are kind of my thing. Them and engineering."
"Engineering? You mean trains and stuff like that?" she asks, her curiosity clearly peaked. Or, as peaked as it's likely to get considering the topic.
"No," I laugh. "Things like machines. I'm a mechanical engineer."
"I see. That means you're pretty smart, right?"
"I'd like to think so," I say. A stupid grin on my face that she begrudgingly returns before rolling her eyes and starting off in the direction of the fire starting station.
"Good. Then you can help me learn how to start a fire," she says. Stopping just long enough to look back over her shoulder to check on Dana and make sure I'm following.
"I'll do my best," I say, breaking out into a slow jog to catch up. "Though, I'm not really much of a nuts and bolts kind of guy."
"I'm sure you'll do fine, Sedge," she mumbles. Motioning for me to take a seat while she goes over to talk to the trainer. Returning a few seconds later with a packet of instructions and a bag full of random fire-starting supplies.
"We can only hope," I joke, a tired little laugh escaping my lips as she drops the bag of supplies on the ground next to me before circling around to the other side of the fire pit and dropping gracefully down onto the floor.
"I'm positive you'll do fine," she insists, tossing me the packet of instructions and patiently waiting for me to decide which of the half-dozen or so methods I want to try out first.
Eventually, I settle on the bow drill method. And after a few minutes of prep work on my part, we set ourselves to the task of starting a fire.
A task we spend a full fifteen minutes failing to accomplish.
Though, it's not a total loss. Because Leandra spends most of that time asking me seemingly random questions about myself and the rest of our allies.
It's nothing too invasive or anything. In fact, it's all pretty basic stuff that she probably already knows. But I'm guessing that's the point.
"So, what do you think of Oz's plan?" she whispers, finally getting around to asking the one question we both know is the only one whose answer she actually cares about. "Do you really think it can actually work? Or is this grand alliance of his doomed to fail?"
"I'm not sure," I admit, my frustration boiling over momentarily as I snap my bow drill in half. "I mean, it's a solid plan, in theory," I say, my answer tailing off into oblivion as I struggle to find the right words to express what I want to say.
"But?" she asks, quickly picking up on my moment of hesitation and pouncing on it like a starving predator would its wounded prey.
"There's a reason it's never been tried before," I say, tossing the remnants of my bow drill back into the bag with the rest of the supplies before continuing. "And it's the same one that makes it such a good idea in the first place."
"And that is?" she asks, every ounce of attention in her body fixed on me and what I'm about to say.
"The size of the alliance. It's a double-edged sword. It's simultaneously its single greatest strength and its most exploitable weakness.
"And then there's the increased visibility. The bigger an alliance is, the more attention it attracts. And the more attention it attracts, the bigger the target on its back.
"And after the career alliance, we're the biggest game in town. And that's not something the careers are likely to ignore."
"Then why did you join the alliance if it's so dangerous?"
"The same reason you did," I say, pushing myself up off my butt and into a standing position with a silent huff. "Because the rewards outweigh the risks. And I know that I have a much better chance of making it out of this hell alive with you guys watching me back than I do on my own," I say. Offering her my hand and pulling her up onto her feet just a fraction of a second before Amara strolls into the middle of the room and lets loose an ear-splitting bellow.
"TRIBUTES, IT'S TIME FOR YOUR COMPULSORY EXERCISE! YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO GET CHANGED INTO YOUR SWIMMING GEAR AND BE LINED UP IN FRONT OF THE POOL! MOVE!"
Cassis Caldeira-12 (District 11 Male)
I don't even know how to swim. I mean, sure, I've read about it, I've even seen a few people do it, but I've never actually had the chance to do it myself. It's just not something I've ever really had the desire to try. And now I'm regretting it.
Oh, god, this is going to be a disaster. I'm going to sink like a rock. I just know it.
I think, my eyes glued to the smooth, blue, glass-like surface of the water as Maira, Ash, Ashton, and I huddle together near the back of the group, doing our best to listen carefully as Amara explains the exercise.
" ... is simple. All you have to do is swim down to the far end. Touch the wall. And then swim back.
"I want to reiterate that you will be in no danger from this. My team and I will keep a close eye on you. And, if at any point, we feel like you're in danger of going under, we will get you out of the pool.
"However, failing to complete this exercise will have consequences. This event will count towards your final training score, just like the obstacle course and the rock wall. So it is in your best interest to take it seriously.
"Are there any questions?"
There are two. The first is from Cornelia, who wants to know which stroke we're supposed to use. Whatever that means. And the second is from Bellatrix, who is dying to know if they're going to post our times on the leader board like they did for the obstacle course and the rock wall.
The answer to the former is whatever one you want. While the answer to the latter is, unsurprisingly, of course.
And that's that. There are no more questions, so Amara nods to one of her assistants, who puts a whistle to her lips and blows out three quick sharp little jolts before telling us to line up and get ready to swim. So that's what we do.
Ash, Ashton, Maira, and I all race to the back of the line — while some of the careers fight to see which one of them will have the honor of going first, a contest which is eventually won by one of the girls Two — and the rest of the tributes file into the middle of the line somewhere to wait their turn.
And then, we wait. We spend what feels like an eternity, which according to the big clock on the wall above the leader board, was a grand total of fifteen minutes, waiting for everyone else to swim their lap. Inching a couple of steps closer to the edge of the pool with each passing minute. Until, at long last, we're the only ones left in line.
"It looks like we're next," whispers Ash, her eyes darting back and forth between the water and Maira as the boys from Seven and the girls from Ten hit the far wall and start back towards us. "If you're going to bring this up, now is the time."
"I know," she whispers, her body trembling in fear as she shuffles forward a few feet and tugs gently on the trainer's sleeve. "Excuse me," she whispers.
"What is it, Miss Renault?"
"I'm not supposed to get my cast wet," she whispers, a look of pure fear burning in her big blue eyes. "The doctor said. …"
"I don't care what the doctor said," snaps the instructors. Her hard, dark purple eyes glaring down at poor Maira with a mix of anger and disgust. "This is a compulsory exercise. You are required to attempt it. That's all there is to it," she growls.
"But I'll ruin it if I get it wet!" she pleads, her eyes filling with tears as the boys from Seven and the girls from Ten reach the edge and hoist themselves out of the pool. Clearing the way for the four of us to swim our lap.
"I ... Don't ... Care," she says, lifting her left hand off her hip and grabbing the whistle around her neck — Raising it to her soft, full, dark purple lips and giving it a trio of short, sharp blows. "Now, get in the pool," she growls, her eyes never leaving Maira as she shuffles slowly up to the edge before stepping off into the warm water below. Tears streaking down her soft, chubby cheeks.
"That's what I thought," she sneers. "The rest of you, into the water. NOW!"
Cornelia Harbor-16 (District 4 Female)
I can't help but feel bad for the little girl from Eleven. I mean, I know that I shouldn't. We're going to be enemies in a couple of days. And there's a decent chance I might have to — kill her — before everything is said and done. But I just can't help it.
She's trying so hard. Her allies are doing everything they can to help her get through this exercise. But it's just not enough.
She's floundering out there. They all are. And it's painful to watch.
Fortunately, the trainers are paying just as close attention to what's going on as I am. And within a few seconds of them starting to flounder, there are six trainers in the pool streaking towards them like sharks knifing through the surf.
And a few seconds later, Ashton, Cassis, Ashlynn, and Maira are standing on the edge of the pool with big, soft, fluffy towels wrapped around their trembling bodies before being ushered off into a side room to dry off and change.
"Finally," groans Bellatrix. Her eyes hard and angry, her voice thick with annoyance as she shifts her gaze away from the quartet of tiny, trembling tributes slowly shuffling off the floor and back to the scoreboard she and the rest of my allies have had their eyes glued to ever since they got out of the pool. "Maybe now they'll finally post our times."
I can't understand why she's so eager to see the times. She's going to be disappointed when she sees hers. Not only was she the slowest member of the career alliance — and it really wasn't even all that close — but she was also slower than at least one of the outer district tributes.
In short, she's going to be pissed when she sees her time. Especially when she realizes that not only did all of us beat her but so did Sarah Beth. And when you couple that upcoming gut punch with her out-of-control ego. And her less than stellar showings on the obstacle course and the rock wall. You have a recipe for disaster.
Especially if someone, and by someone, I mean Ariadne, decides to say something about it. Which, if I'm being honest, she's probably going to do.
She's at her wit's end, and I understand why. Bellatrix has spent the last two days shitting on her every chance she gets. She's gone out of her way to make sure Ariadne knows how worthless she thinks she is as both an ally and a person.
Hell, the only reason she's still in the alliance is because Cleopatra and I talked her into staying. Well, that and she's understandably terrified of what Bellatrix's attack dog Shimmer would do to her if she left.
But even so, there's no way she's going to miss the chance to take a shot or two at Bellatrix if she has the opportunity. And I honestly can't say that I blame her.
That doesn't mean I'm not going to do everything I can to talk her out of it and hold our already fragile alliance together. Just that I understand why she's at the point she is.
"Why are you so eager to see your time, Bell?" she asks, her voice flat, neutral, and completely at odds with the smug, satisfied grin on her smooth, tan, freckle-covered cheeks.
"Ariadne, don't," I whisper, my voice low and pleading as I try to head this off before things get out of hand.
"Don't what, Cornelia? she asks, her deep, sea-blue eyes burning with satisfaction and mischievous intent. "I'm just asking our fearless leader a question. There's nothing wrong with that. Is there?"
"Of course not," quips Shimmer. His voice low and tinged with excitement. A sick, stomach-twisting little grin on his face as he leans back in his chair and stares up at the scoreboard.
"Thank you, Shimmer," she says, fully aware of what he's doing but long past the point of caring.
She's going to walk right into this. And there's nothing I can do to stop it.
Fortunately, I don't have to. At least, not right now. Because within a few seconds of that stupid, pointless, incendiary exchange, the first handful of names and times, those for the four tributes who failed to finish the exercise, start to flash to life on the board.
And that's when the shit hits the fan. Because a few seconds later, Bellatrix's name flashes up on the screen, with a time of just a hair over three minutes and fifteen seconds. Which is a more than respectable time for someone who doesn't spend a lot of time in the water.
The only problem is, she finished with the thirteenth fast time. She was nearly three seconds slower than the tribute in twelfth, Oz, and twenty-seven seconds slower than Ariadne, who finished in first place about three-tenths of a second ahead of me.
All of which gives Ariadne the opening she needs to say something we all know is going to piss Bellatrix off.
"Wow, Bell. That was. ... That was something else."
"Shut your mouth, Ariadne," she snaps, her voice dripping with venom as she squares her shoulders and takes half a step towards her.
"No, I'm serious. It takes real talent for a career to be so bad at something that more than half the non-careers can do it better than them. You should be proud of yourself."
"Laugh it up, Ariadne," she growls. An angry, almost primal rage burning in her hard, sky-blue eyes. "You won't look so smug in a couple of days when I'm standing over you with my sword stuck in your throat."
"Ohhh, I'm so scared," she scoffs, a smug, satisfied smirk on her face as she mimics Bellatrix by squaring up and taking a step towards her.
"You should be."
"Oh, believe me, I am," she says, rolling her eyes in amusement and biting back a laugh as Bellatrix continues to fume at being the butt of the joke.
"You think this is funny, don't you?"
"Of course not. I think it's hilarious."
"No. It's not."
"Yes, it is.
"You've spent the last two days acting like you're better than everyone else. Talking all kinds of shit about anyone you don't think measures up. Me in particular!" she growls. Her anger bubbling up to the surface for a brief moment before being beaten back down.
"But this right here," she says, pointing up to the scoreboard with a smug, shit-eating grin plastered on her face, "proves that you're all talk. And that, I find hilarious."
"You're a joke, Ariadne," she growls, her body tensing up with every word. "And if you don't wipe that stupid fucking grin off your face, I'll wipe it off for you."
"I'd like to see you try."
"OK, I will. You're out."
"Excuse me," she says. The confusion visible on her face through her rapidly disappearing grin.
"I said you're out. You're no longer a career, Ariadne. We don't need you in our alliance. You're dead weight anyway."
"Hold on a second, Bellatrix," says Helena. Her voice soft and even as she steps up and puts her hand on Bellatrix's shoulder. "You can't just kick her out like that."
"Yes, I can. I'm the leader of this alliance and what I say goes. Remember?"
"That's not how an alliance works."
"Yes, it is. And if you don't watch yourself, I'll kick your worthless ass out too."
"You can't. ... You can't do that, Bellatrix."
"Watch me," she growls, a sick, sadistic grin plastered on her soft, full, pink lips.
"Alfonso, Cornelia, Shimmer. Ariadne and Helena are no longer members of the career alliance. They're not worthy of the title.
"The three of you have a choice. You can stick with me and the alliance you were born to be members of. Or you can follow them into their well-deserved irrelevance. The choice, is yours. Now, make it."
"Well, this is a no-brainer," laughs Shimmer. That same sick, twisted, stomach-churning grin from earlier on his face as he casually makes his way over to where Bellatrix is standing. "I'm with you."
"I knew I could count on you, Shimmer," she purrs. "Alfonso?"
"I ... I guess I'm with you," he sighs, his eyes never leaving Shimmer as he slowly makes his way over to where he and Bellatrix are standing.
"Good. Cornelia?"
I don't. I don't know what to say. I mean, this is madness. She has to see that.
"Cornelia," she says, her voice soft and singsongy with just a touch of bite underneath. "I asked you a question."
"I know you did," I mumble, my eyes darting back and forth between her and Ariadne as I struggle to make a choice.
"And?" she asks, covering the two or so feet between us in the blink of an eye and taking my hands in hers and looking into my eyes.
"And, I'm a career," I whisper, my voice just loud enough for her to hear my answer.
"Of course you are," she coos, wrapping her arm around my shoulder and gently leading me over to where the boys are standing with a triumphant smirk on her face.
"I'll see the three of you in the morning. We have a big day ahead of us," she says, her voice as soft and gentle as a warm summer breeze. "And I'll see the two of you in the arena. Good luck."
A/N: And so ends the second day of training, and what a day it was. It had everything, action, adventure, suspense, a touch of love, and one massive swerve. I hope it was worth the wait :)
Now, I've been asked to post an alliance list so that everyone can see where all the tributes stand entering the final day of training, and I think it's a good idea. I sometimes forget that just because I can see the alliance master list, doesn't mean you all can. So I apologize for not posting this sooner like I should have. Also, I'm still coming up with names for all of these alliance, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know :D
Alliances
Career Alliance
Alfonso
Shimmer
Bellatrix (Leader)
Cornelia
Career Outcasts
Helena
Ariadne
Oz's Grand Alliance
Oz
Cypher
Sentri
Sedge
Dana
Leandra
District Seven
Asuka
Benny
Districts Eight and Ten
Lizbeth
Pallas
Luciana
Hopeless Littles
Ashton
Cassis
Maira
Ashlynn
Solo
Sarah Beth
Shirley
Hector
And that's everyone, I hope this is helpful. Also, it will change, this isn't its final form as we still have a whole day of training left. But it is where they stand as of right now.